December 18, 2013

The holiday season is upon us and you know what that means? That's right, time to find the perfect gifts for everyone in your life. So when you're thinking of gifts what comes to mind: electronics, clothes, household products, etc. How about something edible? I love edible gifts. It's a unique way to show you care or appreciate someone. I've come across quite a few edible gift shops but they were all the same. I was recently introduced to a truly unique website: http://www.the5almonds.com. I know you're thinking whats so different about this shop? Well they sell beautiful artisanal confections selected from around the world at an affordable price. Les Cinq Amandes is a place that combines art and sweets for a truly amazing gift. If you're looking for fine confections, favors and gifts that are easy on your wallet as well then Les Cing Amandes is worth checking out. Something that really stood out to me was the Dragées. Dragées or the five almonds have fives wishes associated with them to add a personal touch to your gift: Happiness, Health, Peace, Love, Longevity.

Here is a Dragée:

Of course Dragées are available in many colors and are gift wrapped with elegant five wishes paper.

So you want to add an even more personal touch to your gift? How about using Les Cinq Amandes; Create A Custom Gift option. With the Create A Custom Gift option you'll be able to choose your gift and what goes in it. It doesn't get more personalized than that.

Well you saw the Dragées but there even more amazing products at Les Cinq Amandes. Here's a few more of their gifts:

I have something special for my readers a 10% discount to be used on http://the5almonds.com.
Les Cinq Amandes is not just for the holiday but for any special occasion. Confectionary can add a more personalized touch to any event.

November 28, 2013

What's the first thing you think of feminine care products? Most likely this topic is something women don't really talk about because it's so personal. It's important to talk about because women have to take care of ourselves especially our vaginal area. That's why I'm excited to share FDS Personal Perfectly Portable Cleansing Cloths. FDS is a well known and trusted brand in Feminine Personal Care. They constantly promote women's health awareness. FDS Personal Cleansing Cloths are portable so you can take them with you anywhere and the pretty designs will make you feel comfortable taking them out in public. They are hypoallergenic, dermatologist tested, and gynecologist tested to be gentle enough for sensitive skin. They have no colors or dyes, they are not animal tested, and free of alcohol and sulfates. The best part is they are flush able so you can discreetly dispose of them in the toilet. The Cleansing cloths come in three packs (10 cloths per pack) and are priced between $4.99 and $5.99. Check out www.fds.info for more information. They are available at select Walmarts.

November 13, 2013

I've always been a fan of Secret and was excited to try out Clinical Strength Invisible Solid. I love that although it's a solid deodorant I don't get white marks. It feels like baby powder and smell like it too. This will be my everyday deodorant.

November 9, 2013

I love brownies and I love brittle, so when I saw a combo of both I was very interested to try it out. This Chocolate Chip Brownie Brittle was so good. It wasn't too hard like most brittle. It taste great. My husband and son loved it and they are very picky. I would recommend them to anyone. Even people who are trying to lose weight since they were named as a hot item by Weight Watchers.

October 23, 2013

I love lip glosses, lipsticks, etc. I was able to try the BA Star Holiday Red Lip Pencil recently. I usually don't wear red on my lips, maybe a very light red but never bright red. I actually liked how BA Star Holiday Red Lip Pencil looked on me. This lip pencil is a nice red,so I was already happy about that. When you hear lip pencil you think it's just for lining the lip. Not true with this lip pencil. You can actually use it for complete lip coverage. It has a matte finish so if you want to add some shine apply BA Star lip gloss to it. It will stay on throughout the day, even after eating and drinking. I would recommend this lip pencil if you're going to a party this holiday season and need something to make your lips stand out. You can purchase the BA STAR Lip Pencil in Holiday Red and in other colors at http://bastar.comfor only $8.75. Save by using the code BBLIPSfor 50% off your entire purchase! *Note: Discount is off the full retail price ONLY. Cannot be combined with any other offers.

October 15, 2013

I'm a coffee lover and I love my Keurig brewer. Recently I was able to try Green Mountain Coffee K-Cups. I had the Three Continent Blend. It smelled amazing and had a very mellow taste to it. I enjoyed it very much.

It not only tastes great but I found out Green Mountain Coffee is apart of the Fair Trade Movement. What's the Fair Trade Movement? Well in short it's helping the farmers in the farming communities get a fair price for their coffee beans. By charging a fair price for the beans it helps those community put the extra money saved into building new schools, improving roads, and making the drinking water safer for everybody. Who knew how far that daily cup of coffee could go? Green Mountain has many other great Fair Trade Certified Coffees, to find them and learn more about the Fair Trade Movement visit http://www.choosefairtrade.com/. Pick up a few K-Cups on your next shopping trip and remember it's for a good cause too.

October 4, 2013

WWE Battleground is a new PPV created by WWE. There are not a lot of matches on the card but the ones that are on there are ones to watch. There could be another surprise match during that night but we'll have to wait and see. Lets get to the predictions. I break my predictions into two categories: 1- Based on story line and 2- Based on what I'm hoping for. On to the matches.

September 28, 2013

Ahh makeup brushes can you ever have enough? I say "No Way!" I just got my hands on some gems from Real Techniques.

First up is the Real Techniques Your Base/Flawless Core Collection 2.0:

This set come with three brushes for a complete coverage so you'll be picture perfect every time.

(from top right to left bottom: Buffing Brush, Pointed Foundation Brush, and Contour Brush)

In this set you get a Buffing Brush- used for full coverage application of powder and mineral foundation, Pointed Foundation Brush- used with liquid foundation, Contour Brush- applies highlighter to contour or create a sheer finish.

Next up is the Real Techniques Blush Brush:

This is a single brush for creating well defined cheeks.

My last set of brushes are Real Techniques Starter Set 2.0:

This set contains a Base Shadow Brush- used to apply foundation of color, Deluxe Crease Brush- used for contouring, Pixel-point Eyeliner Brush- used for dense or fine eyeliner application, and lastly a Brow Brush- used to define eyebrows.

All of these brushes can be purchased at www.realtechniques.com. This website also has step by step tutorials if you need help creating a certain look. Happy makeup shopping to my fellow beauty lovers.

Do you love prizes? Of course you do. As we head into October, we know Halloween is right around the comer. What better way to celebrate Halloween than a Haunted Hollywood vacation. So what's this prize about? You can win a trip to Hollywood for a behind the scenes tour of FOX studios. It's an all expense paid trip. When you enter the contest you instant get a coupon for $2 off any Goosebumps DVD. So what are you waiting for enter by clicking the image below.

My son loves Youtube but he can't watch everything that's on Youtube because everything on there is not age appropriate. That's why I love Kidoole.TV. It's a great website for children and it's completely safe. Once on the website setup is easy. You register your info, then you create a profile for each child you have. You can customize based on age for up to 5 children. The website is well put together and has a lot of bright colors that your child would love. It's easy to navigate the website and all the videos are a perfect fit for their particular age group. Right now Kidoole.TV is in beta but it's worth checking out. My son loved it and I hope your child will love it too.

September 13, 2013

It's PPV time again. This year's Night of Champions is going to be very interesting because you really don't know who's going to win. Let's take a quick look at the matches for this PPV.

Tag Team Turmoil match: The Prime Time Players( Darren Young and Titus O'Neil) vs Tons of Funk(Brodus Clay and Tensai) vs The Usos( Jimmy and Jey) vs 3MB( Heath Slater, Drew McIntyre, or Jinder Mahal) vs The Real Americans( Jack Swagger and Antonio Cesaro with Zeb Colter). This is to be the number one contender against The Shield.
My choice: The Usos

World Heavyweight Championship: Alberto Del Rio(c) vs RVD (with Rodriguez)
I think the key player in this match will be Rodriguez. Something still feels off about how quickly he aligned himself with RVD.
My choice: Alberto Del Rio

Elimination Handicap match: C.M. Punk vs Curtis Axel (with Paul Heyman)
I'm going to be honest I feel like C.M. Punk will lose or rather the match won't end. Brock Lensar has been m.i.a. for awhile now. I'm just saying don't count him out of this match.
My choice: Curtis Axel

Divas Championship: A.J. Lee vs Naomi vs Natalya vs Brie Bella
As an A.J. fan I would love to see her hold on to the belt a little while longer. With that said this is going to be a hard match for the champ, especially since she doesn't have to get pinned to lose. That's what makes Fatal Four way championship matches tricky.
My choice: Natalya

WWE Tag Team Championship: The Shield( Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins) vs The #1 Tag Team Championship Contenders
Honestly no matter who wins #1 contenders, I feel Dean Ambrose will play a role in keeping the Tag belts with The Shield.
My choice: The Shield

The choices I'm picking are purely based on how I think things will play out. These choices are not who I'm hoping to win. My personal choices to win (not based on story line): The Usos, Daniel Bryan, Alberto Del Rio, C.M. Punk, A.J. Lee, and The Usos for the Tag Team Belts.

If you're like me you want the smoothest skin possible. Many factors such as environment, diet, and more can leave us with anything but good skin. Thankfully there's help, truthinaging.com. This website doesn't just sell you products, it gives you honest reviews of some of your most loved products and some you've never heard of. They do this so you can make informed decisions when you purchase skincare/haircare/health/beauty products. Guess what, the wonderful people at truthinaging.com is having a contest. They are giving away Clear Skin For Life (over $500 value) to two winners. These devices are FDA approved. The two winners will receive Quasar Baby Blue and Quasar Clear Rayzr. Both of these devices treat acne. Enter the contest at http://www.truthinaging.com/clear-skin.

September 11, 2013

I love cold cereal, especially when I'm in a rush. Most cereals are full of sugar and are not that healthy. Quaker Oatmeal Squares Cereal is not like that. I had a chance to try this cereal and absolutely loved it. Yeah I might like it but what about children? Well I made a bowl for my 7 yr old son and he loved it so much he wanted another bowl of it. I trust the Quaker brand. They always have a way of making healthy taste surprisingly good. This cereal is packed with the good stuff. It's 96% of your daily whole grain needs. It's a great source of fiber and calcium. Here's the best part it's available in four flavors: Brown Sugar (the one I had), Cinnamon, Golden Maple, and Honey Nut. Pick up a box next time you're looking for a healthy cold cereal.

*I received this product sample from BuzzAgent. All opinions are my own.

September 10, 2013

With children heading back to school it's important that we keep the learning going at home. There is a great website called Kitereaders.com. This website has children's e-books and apps for all ages and subjects. KiteReaders is a multi-award winning digital publisher of children’s books. With over 100 titles and 30 best sellers across Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks, KiteReaders aims to provide quality content for children and their families and increase literacy around the world. Visit KiteReaders at http://kitereaders.com and like them on Facebook at http://facebook.com/kitereaders! The wonderful people at KiteReaders are having a giveaway. There is going to be over 20 kid-friendly prizes such as, protective tablet cases, Crayola Color Studio iMarkers, sound limiting headphones, and much more. Parents, educators, or just tablet and e-reader lovers are sure to enjoy these prizes. The giveaway runs from 9/11/13 12am PST until 10/06/13 11:59pm PST. The link to the giveaway can be found here http://kyte.ws/give-tablet. Enter in the contest below:)

September 4, 2013

Who doesn't love cookies? I love cookies but I'm not a big fan of peanut butter. So when I received these cookies I was hesitant to try them. To my surprise they tasted great. The peanut butter flavor was just enough. The peanut butter is in chunks swirls. They taste a little bit like a sugar cookie. I hardly could taste any oatmeal but I think that's ok. Children would love these. Quaker Crispy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies come individually wrapped in packs of four per box. They contain 10g of whole grain oats (moms will be happy about that). I would put these in my son's backpack for snack time.

September 3, 2013

Ahh Raw. Last night's Raw was very good leaving one important question: Where is this leading? Raw began with HHH in the ring (with The Shield as guard dogs, let's see how long that last). Then Randy Orton comes out explaining why he (and The Shield) beat up Daniel Bryan and sprayed "NO'' on his bare chest afterward. It was all because Bryan spray painted "YES" on his car that HHH gave him. Bryan comes out after HHH starts saying that he can bring back the Cruiser-weight belt for Bryan to fight for instead of the top belt. Bryan comes gets into a war of words with HHH and Orton. HHH books Bryan a match with Big Show for the main event. That opening ensured everyone was in for quite a night.
Match 1: Fandago vs The Miz= Winner Miz
Match 2: Ziggler vs Ryback= Winner Ryback (with help from The Shield before the match started)
Match 3: 3MB vs Prime Time Players= Prime Time Players
Match 4: Cody Rhodes vs Randy Orton (If Cody loses he's fired)= Winner Orton, Cody is fired by HHH
Match 5: Brie Bella vs Natalya vs Naomi (#1 contender for Diva's Championship)= No Winner (A.J. interferes and get beat of by some of the Total Divas cast members, This results in Stephanie McMahon making a fatal 4 way match at Night Of Champions: A.J(c) vs Brie vs Natalya vs Naomi)
Match 6: Damien Sandow vs RVD= Winner RVD
Match 7: Big Show vs Daniel Bryan= No winner, Big Show refuses to finish HHH forces Big Show to watch Bryan get beat up then tells Show to knock out Bryan. With some coaxing from Stephanie, Show knocks out Bryan and sobs. Orton comes out and turns Bryan over and puts his foot on Bryan as if he won the match at Night Of Champions.

Overall this was a good show. I love the fact that the Divas have a solid story line going on. The personal problems between punk and Heyman, and the main focus Bryan vs the McMahon-HHH w/Orton- power struggle. It's going to interesting to see what role will Big Show play at Night Of Champions.

As a huge lip gloss fan I love trying new ones. I received this lip gloss called BA STAR in Super Sparkle. When I saw the amount of glitter that was in lip gloss tube, I thought would be too much. To my surprise the amount of glitter that you get when you use it on your lips is very subtle. The smell of this lip gloss is out of this world. It kind of smells like a fruity gum. One of my favorite things about this lip gloss is how long it lasted. I put it on at around 8am and it was still on my lips at 2pm. I love long lasting lip glosses and this is one of them. It also comes in another shade: Pearly Pink. The lip glosses come in a duo pack: Zebra Lip Gloss Duo (http://www.bastar.com/product_p/lg2p.htm). BA STAR has many great products. I'm including a 50% off discount code for all my readers to use: BBDUST. Happy shopping to you all and be sure to pick up something nice at http://www.bastar.com.

*Powered by BrandBacker. I received this product sample from BA STAR for review, all opinions are my own.

September 2, 2013

What do you think of rice cakes? Bland? Boring? Well those are the rice snacks of the past. Nowadays Quaker has come up with rice snacks that even a child would love. Quaker Popped Cheddar Rice Snacks is the answer to any rice cake. It taste so good that even my son forgot it was a healthy snack. It's made with whole grain brown rice (yes I can see the smiles come across all of the moms out there faces) and a delicious cheddar flavor. My son ate most of it by himself. I did get to eat about 5 little bites. My son is a very picky eater so I was a little surprised by how fast he ate these rice snacks. Quaker Cheddar Rice snacks is only 140 calories and has 13g of whole grains. Now say you're not a fan of Cheddar, well have not fear Quaker has an assorted variety of flavors of their Popped Rice Snacks. Flavors such as: Apple Cinnamon, BBQ, Chocolate, Ranch, and much more. I will make sure to pick up more when I go grocery shopping and hope you give these rice snacks a try too.

*I received the above product sample from BuzzAgent to review. All opinions about the above product are my own.

August 28, 2013

I recently received the Quaker Real Medley bar in Apple Nut Harvest. These bars are a great morning or afternoon snack for moms and can be a great snack for your child too. The Apple Nut Harvest bar has chunks of apples, cranberries, walnuts, and cinnamon to top it off. This combination of fruits and nuts makes for a tasty multigrain bar. It breaks apart easy. It's not sticky, which is a big plus for me. You get five bars in each box. It contains 8g of whole grains in every bar. It comes in two other flavors: Cherry Pistachio and Peach Almond. My son and husband loved the bars. I told one of my best friends about it and let her try one and now she wants a whole box for herself. If your child has a sweet tooth, this is definitely a healthier alternative to candy. So if you're looking for a healthy treat this one is for you and your family.

August 19, 2013

Yes that time was upon us again, SummerSlam. SummerSlam is one of the biggest PPVs for WWE. It's right up there with Royal Rumble and the granddaddy of them all Wrestlemania. This year's SummerSlam was even more hyped up by a new reality show from WWE. We'll get to that later. This year's SummerSlam was very good, which surprised me because I wasn't as excited for this SummerSlam as I was for previous ones. Let breakdown the matches shall we:

Pre-Show match for the United States Championship- RVD vs Dean Ambrose(c): RVD has been one of my favorite wrestlers for a long time. He's usually so exciting to watch in the ring. I say usually because I feel like since he's been back, something's off. I don't know if it's because he's older now or what but I feel like he's holding back. I'm not wowed by him anymore. Not because I expect him to do certain moves they way he did years ago. I don't feel the passion anymore from him. Ambrose is growing on me. He's a good wrestler and has an interesting character. I really feel he should consider parting ways with The Shield soon before people get bored with all three of them. He can become such a greater heel than he is now but he has to come into his own for that to happen. Whenever WWE decides to break up this group, Ambrose will be the stand out star from it. Back to the match, this was a good match. There was some back and forth hits between the two that felt like it went on for too long. Ambrose would lose the match but retain his title thanks to his fellow Shield members.

Ring Of Fire match- Kane vs Bray Wyatt: Oh Kane. What happened to the scary Kane? I need that fire from Kane again ( no pun intended). I will give the Wyatt family props for creeping me out with their entrance music but that's all. This match was bad. I found myself getting up and getting something to drink because I was that bored. The short of it, Bray Wyatt's family found a way inside the ring thus allowing for Bray Wyatt to win. The only exciting part of this pairing is after the match when the Wyatt family slammed the steps on Kane's head.

Cody Rhodes vs Damien Sandow: Cody and Damien are some of the best wrestlers WWE has. To see them wrestle against each other is such a treat. This match was fast paced, maybe a little too much but no matter it was still a solid one. Winner for this match was Cody.

World Heavyweight Championship- Christian vs Alberto Del Rio(c): Christian moves as quick as he did years ago. I really would have liked Christian to win the belt. If for nothing else it would have ended his run on an up note. I expect his presence to decrease in the upcoming months, although I'm hoping I'm wrong. It wasn't really surprising that Del Rio retained. He has to keep winning to add to his heel persona. This was a pretty good match.

Natalya vs Brie Bella: Ahh my Divas (and Total Divas stars The Funkadactyls, Nikki, and Eva Marie).The Total Divas show has brought the Divas back in forefront. I'm so happy they are getting more time now. I was so happy to see Nattie get this match. Nattie is the best Diva they have as far as a wrestler is concerned. This was long overdue. Brie was ok. All that being said this match was average at best. I think had Nattie and A.J. fought for the title then maybe it would have been better. Winner Nattie.

CM Punk vs Brock Lesnar: This was easily the best match of the night. It had such a great backstory. Heyman is magic on the screen. Punk and Lesnar brought their A game to this match. Near falls, interferences, etc. Just amazing. Winner Lesnar, but everyone was a winner here for a fantastic match.

Mixed Tag Match: Dolph Ziggler and Kaitlyn vs. Big E. Langston and AJ Lee: My favorite current Diva A.J. showed fierceness like only she could throughout the match. Kaitlyn showcased her strenght. Dolph is truly amazing in the ring. Big E., well he's ok. This match was fast paced( most likely because the match after needed all the time) Winners Ziggler and Kaitlyn.WWE Championship Match: John Cena(c) vs. Daniel Bryan: Last match of the night was an interesting one to say the least. This was a great match but in the end Cena lost and Bryan would get the belt. This story would be great if weren't for the controversial ending. No not during the match but after. You see HHH decided to make sure Bryan's championship reign was a short one by pedigreeing him into oblivion. Thus allow for Orton to cash in his briefcase and become the new champ. Overall this was a good, not great SummerSlam. Best Superstars/Divas were: CM Punk, Lensar, Cody, Sandow, Nattie, A.J., Ziggler, and Bryan. Worst Superstars/Divas were: RVD, Big E., and Brie.That's it for this PPV, I'll be sure to review the upcoming Night of Champions PPV next month. Till next time :)

August 13, 2013

Technology has made learning so much easier and a lot of fun too. There is a wonderful website http://powermylearning.org, that can help your child throughout the upcoming school year. This website focuses on a total of eight subjects: Math, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, Art & Music, Technology, World Languages, and Your Life. It also boast a total of 35 sub-categories including: Writing, Chemistry, Graphic Design and much more. This website is for students K-12, parents, and educators. It's amazing how well a student can do in school if they continue learning at home as well as they do at school. Check out some of the great learning activities and games your child could be engaging in right now.

These are just a taste of the activities your child could be doing right now. Did I mention the website is free? That's right free. It can't get any better than that. So what's left to do? Nothing but try out this amazing website and Power Your Child's Learning.